


Your Element Won't Let You Down

by worldismyne



Category: Xiaolin Showdown (Cartoon)
Genre: Drabble, Original Character(s), Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:54:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27243778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/worldismyne/pseuds/worldismyne
Summary: Jack meets Omi's real mother while cleaning up after his latest failure.
Kudos: 14





	Your Element Won't Let You Down

Jack grumbled as he trudged down the steps to his secret lab. All the trouble he had gone through, and no Wu. Not only that, but the little venture Hannibal and Wuya had him go on made him skip lunch. He was about to enter his sanctuary when his mother called for him.

“Jack, get in here. We have something to discuss.”

“Coming mum~!” Jack whined, and quickly changed out of his evil villain get-up in favor of appearances. The less his parents knew about the Wu hunt, the better. “What’s up?”

“What’s up?” His mother asked, mildly irritated. “What’s up is that there’s a woman here that claims you broke into her home.” Jack looked over to see a short Chinese woman sipping tea. Her face was gently creased with age, framed by soft, black locks loosely tied into a pony tail.

“What proof does she have it was me?” Jack demanded in his own defense. The stranger calmly took her cane and knocked over a sack next to her chair. Robot parts spilled onto the floor.

“They all say, ‘If found return to Jack Spicer’ with an address on it.” Her accent curdled like boiling water in a pot.

“I told her that there must be a mistake,” His mother continued, “but she insisted that this was the correct address.”

“Yeah mum, she’s got the right place.” He groaned inwardly.

“There is more of this stuff all over my land.” The lady continued. “It was quite a shock to come home and find it all. There is no real harm done, but I would appreciate it if you would clean up your mess.” She glared at him, flashing a brief glimpse of blue, green eyes before glancing at his mother. “That should be a suitable punishment, yes?”

“Of course. I’m sorry he’s done this Ms. Sasumei. I don’t know what’s gotten into him lately-” Ms. Sasumei raised her hand to silence the debutante.

“Quite alright, but we should get going now. Daylight and all that sass.” She hopped up, only to shuffle out the door. Jack gave a forlorn look back to his mother before following her out the door.

* * *

What met Jack’s eyes wouldn’t have surprised him more than if a fish jumped out his Helipack. The run down farm that had been used as Omi’s fake house during his last scheme was what this woman called home. Before he could start picking up his robots, the woman ushered him inside.

“This way please.” Jack was too shocked to object as she lead him to a splintered table and watched her cook. “Go ahead sit down; I recognize a hungry face when I see one.” He remained standing.

“Aren’t you made at me?” He asked. The woman cackled at this.

“Mad at you? For what; fixing my fence? Plowing the fields?” She briefly glanced away from her bubbling pot. “I just wanted you to pick up those chunks of metal. Though I am curious; what were you doing all the way out here?”

“I didn’t realize someone lived here.” She set a bowl of hot soup before him. Thick rice noodles floated in the plain broth. "I assumed it had been... abandoned."

“I thought that was the case, but what were you doing?” Jack froze, unable to come up with an acceptable lie. His host grew smugger with each second.

“Up to no good, ehh?” She gave his should a gentle nudge with her elbow before returning to her kitchen chores.

“Yes- I’m mean no!" Jack floundered.

"No need to be shy, I have seen my fair share of hi-sinks.”

“Don’t you mean hijinks?” Her features soured. “You know what, forget I said anything.” He wanted to get off as easily as he could. The last thing he wanted to do was offend his host. “That’s… uh, lovely robe you have on.” She looked down at the light blue silk. Silver was craftily stitched to form waves, occasionally covered by the pale gold sash around her waist.

“Oh, this? Yes, I am quite fond of it. It was an engagement present from my fiancé.” She finished the last bit of her noodles. “You remind me of him, always getting into trouble. He used to say 'I can’t stand to sit by when something I want is in front of me.’ Got himself into more trouble that way, like when he got this robe.” Jack nodded to signify interest. “He could not afford anything quite this nice at the time. We had seen a couple in the Xiaolin Temple before, and I became so enchanted with them. The next thing I knew, he was standing there; soaked from head to foot holding one that looked just like the one the Dragon Warriors wore, telling me to take it before the crazy monks caught him.”

It took Jack a moment to realize what exactly she had said.

“Wait, he stole from the temple!? …how did he get wet?”

“He crashed a Folkswagon into a lake.” She smiled, as if talking about the weather.“I tried to convince him to give the robe back, but it had caused him so much trouble to acquire. He insisted I keep it to remember him by." She collected Jack’s empty dish. "I blame to wood in his personality, it made him too stubborn for his own good.”

“What does that mean?” Jack asked.

“It means you have scrap to clean up.” She placed the dishes in the sink. “…If you want to hear the rest of the story so badly then you should probably get to work.” Jack rolled his eyes and went outside to gather his robots.

* * *

Ms. Sasumei was shocked when Jack returned.

“I thought you were just humoring me.” She shrugged from her wicker chair.

“Well I wasn’t, so can I hear the rest of the story now?” She chuckled and gestured for him to sit down.

“The wood in his personality made Hao devilishly stubborn. Once he had his mind set on something, there was no stopping him.” She shook her head.

“How did you know he had wood in his personality?”

“By his eyes. They were a light brown, with a ring of blue on the outside. You can tell a lot about a person by their eyes, you see, by the five elements.” When he stared at her blankly she elaborated. “Earth, Fire, Water, Wood and Metal. Each element effects your personality; your future, your weaknesses, even how you handle conflict. But if someone is unbalanced, that is where the trouble begins. I myself, have a great deal of water in my personality. It means that I am very adaptable, but listen more to my emotions. Hao on the other hand had a great deal of wood, which made him stubborn. The water in his eyes, fed into his stubbornness.”

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I ever heard. You can’t tell a thing about people by their eyes.” Jack scoffed.

“Alright smarty pants, let me see yours.” He leaned forward, certain he would prove his point. “How unusual. Most people have at least two elements, you only have one… I’ve never seen someone with metal in their personality like this before.”

“So, what does it mean?”

“Metal is very versatile. It can be do many thing with adequate success and it is very resilient, as are you. Metal reflects its surroundings and can easily fool others.” Jack couldn’t help but puff up at this. “But you have nothing to balance it. You over think things too much and plan for every possible outcome. If something comes along you do not expect, you are shaken and lose control of the situation. Metal also bends to the will of others; without the support of another element you cannot stand on your own. You need other people in order to function.” She smiled with satisfaction at Jack’s horrified face. “I suggest finding someone with a great deal of wind or water in their personality, someone more adaptable will help you to succeed.”

“So what? That doesn’t explain why your fiancé drove a car into a lake.” Jack pouted. Ms. Sasumei simple chuckled and leaned back in her chair.

“Hao knew I liked the ceremonial robes, so he decided that no other robe would do as an engagement present. His parents were not particularly fond of me, so he could not borrow money. Instead he borrowed his father’s car, without permission of course, swearing it would be easy and drove to the temple. Once he got them, the monks chased after him. However, he did not familiarize himself with the area before hand and took a short cut right into the lake. After that he ran on foot to my work place to deliver the gift.”

“Did they catch him?”

“Naturally, but he never said I was involved. His father was furious though, and enlisted him into the army so he could learn responsibility and honor... He knew it all along, that’s why he was going to marry me. He would not dare let me be an unwed mother. It all just happened so fast.” Jack looked around the home.

“Where is this guy, I have to meet him.” The smile on Ms. Sasumei’s face faded.

“I am afraid you cannot. He- I never was given the chance to marry him.” She looked longingly at the robe she wore. “If I had, things would have turned out differently. But it is alright; life gave me trials and I did the best I could with what I was given. With no husband and no family to rely on, I had to take care of myself. I thought I could do it on my own, but my friend warned me not to try, that I was too unbalanced to try.” She sighed. “I could not raise a baby and pay for the medical cost; so I had to give him up. I am sure the temple found a nice home for him.”

“If you could see your son again,” Jack asked, “would you?” It didn’t take much for him to gather that this woman might be Omi’s real mother. If she was, he could use this to his advantage. But Ms. Sasumei scoffed.

“What would I tell him. Hello, I am your mother and I live in a shack? If he is anything like his father…” She tapered off. “I have nothing to offer a child here, that is why I let him go. I have no right being a mother when I don’t even take care of myself.” She patted her weak hip. “Besides, he has probably been adopted by a nice well-to-do family, going to school and other normal things.” It was here that Jack let the subject drop. It would do her no good to find out no one could adopt her child as long as he lived at the very temple she entrusted him to. In contrast, Omi wouldn’t likely fall for another 'long lost parent’ meeting out of fear that it would be another ploy.

“I’m sorry again for the inconvenience.” He said, “I promise it won’t happen again.” Ms. Sasumei dismissed his comment with blood shot eyes.

“Do not worry about it, this is the most excitement I have seen since that strange cat girl asked me where the Catatonia land was.” She walked him to the door. “If you ever need a fortune done, do not be too shy to find me.”


End file.
